Since April 23, 2023, Azerbaijan has set up an illegal checkpoint on the Artsakh-Armenia border—in the Lachin Corridor, as a result of which several communities of the Shushi region of Artsakh have remained under complete blockade, being cut off both from Stepanakert and Armenia. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Minister of State Gurgen Nersisyan wrote about this on Facebook page.

"Since April 23, the humanitarian situation of the residents of Mets Shen, Hin Shen, Yegtsahogh, and Lisagor communities of Shushi region has worsened day by day, an attempt was made to supply food and medicine to these communities through the Artsakh office of the Red Cross, but these efforts did not yield results. With the assistance of Russian peacekeepers, the three minors who were left in Goris city [of Armenia] were returned to their parents in the early days, while Azerbaijan had prohibited the return of the rest.

"In order to resolve the urgent humanitarian issues of the residents of the [aforesaid] villages under complete and two-way blockade, a group of residents appealed to the Russian peacekeepers carrying out service on location, who allowed them to pass through the checkpoint near the Hakari bridge in private cars without inspection, assuring [them] in advance that there would be no overseeing intervention by the Azerbaijanis.

“Our citizens crossed the road unilaterally and without interruption with the assistance of peacekeepers. But due to the establishment of the checkpoint, they met Azerbaijanis at the checkpoint on the way back to their place of residence with their compatriots who were left in Goris. The latter [i.e., the Azerbaijanis], putting our citizens in a desperate situation, forced them to fulfill their demands, [and] video recorded process in order to show the next staging.

"This is another proof that the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint hinders the uninterrupted movement of Artsakh citizens, vehicles and cargo, violating the provisions of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 and the decision of the UN International Court of Justice.

“The people of the Republic of Artsakh are waiting for the restoration of the Lachine corridor regime defined by the Tripartite Statement—a 5km wide corridor exclusively under the control of the Russian peacekeeping forces," the Artsakh Minister of State added.

Earlier, the Azerbaijani media released a video in which it can be seen that the residents of Artsakh are moving freely through the Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Hakari bridge. The video caused the indignation of the people of Artsakh.

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01.05.2023 13:44